Almost two months ago, I made a post about Greece’s stagnant solar market, a case study of what happens when remarkable solar potential and incentives are hampered by a sluggish bureaucracy. In light of the relative ease with which it is to go solar in states like California or New Jersey, I thought it might be interesting to revisit this sun-wealthy nation, especially because, as the L.A. Times pointed out this weekend, buying solar panels in America is cheaper than ever before, with prices poised to fall further.

The findings, however, are not heartening for solar in Greece. The Boston Globe reports that plans to build a 50-megawatt solar park in the southern Hellenic town of Megalopolis—the country’s biggest solar energy project—were recently blocked by local game hunters, despite the solar park’s ability to mitigate the polluting effects of the power plants expelling smoke and dust nearby. (The hunters oppose the project because building it would destroy much forest cover.) Estimated to cost around $280 million to $349 million, the Megalopolis project was slated to become one of the largest solar energy initiatives in the world—but for two years electricity operator PPC has held onto its production licenses and left the site untouched, as the hunters’ appeal has yet to see a court ruling.

Still, hope remains in the air for the future of the Greek solar market.

“In the past 15 years, Greece has been the sleeping giant of European renewables,’’ said Nikos Vassilakos, who heads a Greek and a European association of investors in renewables. “Now something is moving, maybe at a slow pace, but investors have learnt to be patient.’’

Greece is notorious for its long licensing procedure, which Vassilakos estimated at three to four years on average.

Granted, Vassilakos has a vested interest in Greek clean energy, so we might not be able to take his word at face value. However, with generous feed-in tariffs of 0.55€/kWh for solar panel installations up to 10 kW and over $5.65 billion worth of renewable energy applications waiting for the Greek energy regulator to give the nod, it’s clear that the interest—from public and private entities alike—hasn’t waned much, despite the setbacks. Do you think solar in Greece will eventually take off to Spanish or Germanic proportions—or will it remain mired in red tape?

Elsewhere, however, the process of outfitting your roof with solar panels has met with less difficulty. The United States solar market in particular has made great strides over the past few years, and with a combination of falling solar panel prices, some generous state subsidies and a sweet Federal Investment Tax Credit—it’s not a bad time for some consumers and businesses to get solar. (If you’re a California resident, you might be able to save 50% or more on a solar system.) And hey! This doesn’t even have to come from us—just read the news.